A Washing Machine!

Probably my biggest blessing this past month has come in the form of a washing machine!

I have learned that a washing machine is not essential to life, but it sure is a convenience!  When we first got to Kenya, of course it was not at the top on the list of priorities.  The down payment on our house, the car, groceries, setup costs had to come first.  Then because of the fact that our house is small, there was literally no place for a washing machine to go!  So our landlord decided to build me a washroom on the back of our house using our rent money.  Three months later, I finally got my washroom, and a couple of days after that, BJ brought home my new washing machine.  I was so glad to make its acquaintance!

I must say, though, how thankful I am that God prepared me so perfectly for my mission field.  As I scrubbed out Seth’s dirty clothes each week, I had to smile as I remembered my mom begging my sister and I not to roll around in the mud!  The mud in Wembu village was so thick, it could pull off your shoes!  And she washed our clothes in a bucket without complaining for 8 months!  I can still remember my mom later teaching me to wash clothes by hand, saying, “You never know, you may need to do this someday on a mission field somewhere.”  Thank God for my mom.  If nothing else, the past three months have given my an even greater appreciation and love for the mother God gave me. 

Christmas Is Coming!

Christmas is three days away!  Seth has sure been pumped up and excited about Christmas coming.  In fact, I had to make him a calendar and tape it to the fridge with the 25^th all decorated.  Every morning he comes to look at his calendar and wants to scratch off another day.  This morning, he once again asked me if it was Christmas yet.  When I told him it was only two days away, he got excited and exclaimed, “Mommy, that is not far away at all!”  I think he can understand the time frame of two days better than he can 3 weeks.

Seth has been busy contributing toward this Christmas.  He has been busy the last week or two “wrapping presents”.  He digs through his toy box and finds “prizes” for people.

Then he wants shopping bags or pieces of paper to wrap them in.

At first, he was wrapping them for Mawmaw and Pawpaw, Grandma and Grandpa, and aunts and uncles.  He still has those “ready” in his room, but I think we were finally able to make him realize that it would cost a fortune to send all of that stuff around the world to the States and Papua New Guinea!

So now he has been wrapping for his daddy and I.  Yesterday, he asked me for my extra gift bags and made some more gifts.  Some of them were homemade (he bent and crumpled pieces of construction paper to make his daddy and I each a fan, and also some “books”), and some are odds and ends of toys from his room that he decided were pretty special and would make nice gifts for his parents.  One thing I must say--our son is not selfish.  To be honest, he convicts me with his giving spirit.  I tend to give “of my abundance”, but he picks things that mean a lot to him, his favorites, to give away.  I have to smile at the fact that God can use a three-year-old to convict and teach His children a lesson! 

We are excitedly preparing our menu for the 25^th!  We purposely didn’t buy a turkey for Thanksgiving, so that we could do it for Christmas.  BJ is going to deep-fry our turkey.  Our mouths are watering already in anticipation!  We are trying to decide on a marinade to inject the turkey with, and BJ is gathering all the things he needs to deep-fry it.  If you have never had fried turkey, you’ve missed out!  It has such a better flavor, and it is so much more moist than when it is baked in the oven.  I have quite a lengthy menu to cook as well, and BJ has requested apple pie for dessert—his favorite.  Apples are a bit of a splurge here too because they are imported from South Africa, but it’s Christmas!  We are looking forward to Saturday!

It is a blessing to me that Swahili songs can now speak to my heart.  This past Sunday, the church we attended sang Christmas songs, one of which was “Joy to the World” in Swahili.  It went too fast for BJ and I to get all the words in, so finally I just focused on reading the words.  Wow!  They touched my heart, and the tears welled up in my eyes at the fact that the King came down to be my Savior to take away all of my sin.  Another of the songs they sang I did not know in English, but the gist of the words were that Christ was born to save you from all your sins.  Swahili is a beautiful language, especially in song.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to learn it with my husband. 

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Kenyan Culture

In this post, I want to tell you a little about the people and culture here in Kenya.  Firstly, there is a tribe of people here called the Maasai.  They are determined to hang on to their culture and heritage, and refuse to change as Kenya becomes more westernized.  Many of the Maasai people wear long, flowing, bright-colored robes.  They walk through town proud of their heritage and who they are.  Individually, they even like to be addressed as “Maasai”, whereas if you were to address a Kikuyu or one of the other tribes by their tribal name, it would not be respectful in the same way. 

Another interesting thing about the Maasai are that they are cow and sheep herders.  Even here in the capital city of Nairobi and the outlying suburbs, they raise their cattle.  Sometimes the traffic is forced to stop for a while as a herd of cows cross the road!

The government tried to complain about the inconvenience of the Maasai and their cows in Nairobi, but the Maasai protested.  They gathered ALL their cows and marched them downtown to the capitol building, stating that the word “Nairobi” means “a place of cool water” and that it was theirs before it was the government’s.  Can you imagine the chaos of hundreds if not thousands of cows downtown?  Traffic wasn’t going anywhere that day! 

The Maasai are warriors, and they are still feared and respected here in Kenya.  In fact, if people want a man to guard their house and property, they find and hire a Maasai because no one wants to mess with a Maasai warrior.  No one is getting past him!

And now about the road system here.  Whenever we go anywhere in Nairobi, I try to have a book, my Swahili notes, or something to do in my lap.  That way I don’t have to watch what is taking place around me!  Otherwise, I am constantly bracing myself, and hollering at BJ, “Watch out!”  He doesn’t like it very well when I do that.  (Smile) What man does?  The roads here in Nairobi are more like a racetrack than a road. Matatu drivers (the public transport vehicles) are the worst.  The faster they go, the more money they make on passengers, so they are constantly in a hurry.  Many times they create three or four lanes of traffic when there is only supposed to be one lane, and that happens in all four directions!  Traffic jams are an everyday occurrence, and all because people are not willing to wait their turn. 

Well, it is about time for Swahili class.  Seth is picking it up quickly.  My name over here is Mama Seth and BJ is Baba Seth.  So yesterday, Seth asked me, “Mama Seth, can I go do such and such?”  He was not trying to be funny; he was just calling me what he hears everyone else call me!  I had to stifle my chuckle.